


New Year's Kiss

by Ianthe (PaganIanthe)



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Flash Fic, Friendship, New Year's Eve, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-22
Updated: 2015-12-22
Packaged: 2018-05-08 10:16:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5493596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaganIanthe/pseuds/Ianthe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jane drags Darcy to a Tony Stark party that she actually doesn't want to be at; she'd much rather be at home getting her chill on with ice cream and a movie.  Steve can see she's in want of company</p>
            </blockquote>





	New Year's Kiss

“Remind me again why I have to be here?” Darcy asked, taking another sip of her cocktail before looking around the dimly lit room curiously. “And don’t tell me it’s because you didn’t want to come alone!”

Jane placed her own glass back on the bar and leaned against Darcy, wrapping an arm around her stiff shoulders. “It’s New Year’s Eve, Darce. There was no way that I was going to leave you alone in the apartment tonight.” Jane was normally the one who had to be dragged, sometimes kicking and screaming, out of the lab, but tonight it was Darcy’s turn to be reluctant; she’d spent the better part of an hour protesting the claim that Jane’s invitation to Tony Stark’s New Year’s Eve bash included her. It was partly, if she was going to be honest, because she didn’t want to go, but there was also a little part of her that really wanted to be a bit morose and pathetic and sit in her PJs watching the ball drop. In all likelihood she would’ve regretted her decision not to attend; hence the resistance had been less “NO WAY!” and more “Okay, I guess…”

“But I was happy with my plans,” she protested, weakly, reaching for the bright blue glass still half-filled with a rather sickly sweet and very strong cocktail that the bartender had informed her had been invented specifically for the event. “I was going to eat my weight in ice cream, drink that bottle of Bailey’s Aunt Edie sent me, and watch crap on TV.” Even to her own ears the protest sounded weak, and she could tell from the sceptical eyebrow raise that Jane didn’t believe a single word of it.

“Uh huh, of course. Sounds like a wonderful evening that could be any other night of the year.” Jane grinned when she noticed the light flush that rose from beneath Darcy’s high collar. “Well, I’m just going over there,” she waved one hand over in the general direction where she’d last seen Thor, picked up her clutch from the back of Darcy’s barstool, and snatched the drink that the brunette had been about to finish. “She’ll have another,” Jane called out. “Darcy, don’t drink too much; I saw Storm arrive with a few groupies earlier and you know what he’s like!”

Darcy gratefully accepted the fresh drink that was placed in front of her a few minutes later and then started looking around at the various groups of people that were gathered, chatting loud enough to be heard over the live band on the stage at the far end of the room. Stark had spared no expense in making sure that the party was as amazing as ever; top notch entertainment, A-class celebrity guests (she was sure that she’d spotted Ryan Reynolds a while ago), designer booze, and a gorgeous sports’ car on a raised dais in the middle of the entryway.

“You’re looking rather lost.” She was startled out of her reverie by the man who sat down on the stool next to her; he had a tall soda glass in one hand, and a thousand watt smile on his lips that didn’t really meet his eyes.

“I know exactly where I am right now,” she responded, still studying the crowds walking around the room, occasionally stopping to chat with a familiar face before moving on, taking canapés from waiters in Iron Man red and gold tuxedos and champagne from constantly refilled trays.

“Are you sure?” He placed a hand on the hand she had curved around the slender stem of the cocktail glass. “You don’t seem very happy.”

“Okay...I think I’ll go now.” She tugged her hand out from under his, turned on the stool and made a move to get down - it had taken a jump to get on it in the first place and not for the first time in her life she cursed the fact that both her parents had cursed her with a genetic lack of height.

“I didn’t mean to chase you off, Miss Lewis.” 

It was the ‘Miss Lewis’ that did it. She abandoned her attempt to get down, and was somewhat grateful for the fact that she didn’t have to draw attention to herself - people had stared at her when she’d made a less than graceful mounting of the seat. “Capsicle?” she asked; she was so used to seeing him in uniform, his face clean-shaven and hair slicked back under the blue helmet that was part of his costume. 

“You’ve been spending far too much time with Tony!” he told her, finally a real smile reaching his eyes. “I prefer Steve.” He reached down with one hand and turned the stool until she was looking at him rather than at the bar. “I didn’t know you were coming tonight.”

“I wasn’t going to. I had plans to watch a movie or two and then watch the ball drop. I thought that you were meant to be in Times’ Square tonight.” She caught the attention of the bartender and asked him for a glass of ice water, giving him a grateful smile when he pushed one across the bar.

“I hate the publicity circuit,” he responded, shrugging one muscular shoulder, his eyes flicking down to watch her mouth as she wrapped her lips around the bright red straw in the glass and took a long sip. “I hate this sort of thing, to be honest. Too noisy!”

Putting the glass down she placed a hand on the bar and used it to give her balance when she hopped down from the barstool. “In that case, do you want to come back to my room and watch the ball drop? I really prefer my pjs.”

Ignoring the speculative gaze from Sam, and the self-satisfied double thumbs-up from Tony, Steve followed Darcy out of the room. 

The apartment she shared with Jane when Thor wasn’t on planet was full of things that reflected Darcy’s vibrant personality and Steve felt at home the moment he walked through the door. He shrugged off his jacket and placed it neatly over the back of a dining chair before unbuttoning his collar and cuffs and then slumping down onto the couch.

“So...any preferences?” Darcy asked him as she walked out of one of the two rooms off the living room; she had changed out of the tight sparkly red dress that Steve had noticed the moment he’d arrived at the party, and into a pair of pjs that looked soft and well-worn, her face was clean of make-up and her hair was tied back away from her face in a messy bun. She looked young and fresh and Steve...well, Steve was entranced!

Sitting down on the couch, her legs tucked up beneath her, she switched on the TV and then leaned back. the remote in her hand as she flicked through the channels, trying to find something that she wanted to watch. “It’s nearly midnight,” she finally declared, stopping on CNN; the celebrations loud and bright as the camera kept on flicking from the revellers to the large ball.

Steve continued to watch her, fascinated by the expressions crossing Darcy’s face as she flicked through channel after channel, barely staying on any station long enough to determine what was airing. “Darcy…” he whispered the words as he reached up and stroked a finger along the line of her jaw. He leaned in slowly and brushed his lips across the corner of her mouth, groaning when she turned her head and responded. Her breath smelled like the cherries and tasted like the sweet cocktail she’d been drinking. He closed his eyes, speared his fingers through her hair and opened his mouth over hers…

“Happy New Year,” she whispered against his lips, moments later, the sound of fireworks crackling and bursting filled the room as the ball in Times’ Square dropped and 2016 started.

**Author's Note:**

> This was written in response to a flash fic challenge at [Bewitching Fiction](http://www.bewitching-fiction.com/) with the prompt _First Kiss_. 
> 
> I now have Tumblr (I know, right?) and can be found [here](http://iantheswriting.tumblr.com), I am open to Starcy prompts (may move further afield as I gain confidence in the fandom, but for now...)


End file.
